King or Fox?

I've mentioned plenty on here, Accutune is my go-to. They've been working with me on dialing in my foxes, and their custom tune was much more comfortable and usable on road and off, than the stock tune from Fox. If you buy shocks from them, they will custom tune them for free, and have a decent amount of Fox product in stock. They tune everything from tacomas to Jeeps, ultra4 buggies to rock bouncers and prerunners.

Here's a basic article about tuning by them, they have others as well on there, including Fox vs King shocks:
http://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/shock-tuning-101/

 

Do you run any mid speed stuff? How’s it handle? What bumps do you run?

 

Why?

Disregard, I saw your respond a few posts later.

 

Do you make a commission off of people who you send to Accutune? You posted this same post like 4 times.

 

Nope, I just posted it when people asked for suggestions. I paid for all my shocks and I don't get a commission, they're just good friends of mine. I fully understand how it comes off, I just see misinformation being spread, and am trying to help people understand that tuning makes more of a difference than the shock brand, and AccuTune has a wealth of data and calculations to support their work.

To me, it's just a no-brainer, if you're looking for shocks, why not get from someone who is going to put in a custom tune for your application, for a similar price to others.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I think the services they provide are great and their customer service is good as well. I had them calculate the valveing in my 2.5s I have in the front when I did my rebuild. Very happy with the outcome so far.

This thread, like many others on this forum, turned into a mixing pot of opinions based off of other opinions with not a lot of REAL info. Some good input was added towards the end and I hope some people use that info. Shocks are a lot of the same. Especially when it comes to King/Fox. Valving is by far the most important aspect and having a well tuned shock makes brand less important.

There are always the fine details, like corrosion resistance and finish, etc so I would highly recommend those being the things to look at when purchasing. I’m no shock expert, and I’m no engineer, so I won’t act like one but people spend so much time in the looks, bigger/better concepts without really focusing on the function.

I have heard that the piston design is another big thing to look at. I can’t tell you what is what when it comes to those details, but may be something to look into for the ones who want to know what’s best for their application.

 

Absolutely, well said. For a long time, getting a shock tuned was not an easy thing to have done, reserved only for racers and serious enthusiasts, plus the collective knowledge base on the topic was mixed. Ryan and Andrew have come up with calculations over the last few years that really help get a shock into the right ballpark out of the box, and it's amazing how much of a difference in feel it can make for a shock someone is certain is a junk manufacturer issue.

There are definitely different piston designs through the years, models, performance levels, etc for most brands. The piston is the base in which you have to build the tuning off of, so if you start with junk, it's hard to build off of that. Accutune has some good tech articles on that as well.

 

I want to add that it is important to recognize that these manufacturers are making a product to fit the MAJORITY of the users from the factory. We all love to say we off road, but the extremes of what this means are very different. A shock tuned for serious off road use may not do well on road (where most of us spend 90% + of our vehicle time) and visa versa. A lot of people don’t even have something better to compare to so they just kind of settle. Myself included. I know how my “tuned” shocks with a sway bar act, and I’m happy with it but what am I comparing it to that makes me know for sure it’s what I want?

 

Whats stopping you from attending a race event and inspecting the trucks/consulting with owners there for ideas?

 

Lots of love for them from guys that don't want too pay for looks,Bilstein 5100 are all you need for off roading and normal use.Those other brands are for racers and and heavy off roader's.

 

Nothing, other than distance from events currently. I will definitely be looking for advice from any racing teams I can get in contact. I definitely don't discriminate at all at this point as I am just trying to learn as much from as many different sources as possible right now man. I appreciate the suggestion as well

 

My setup is basically mid travel. Except for the extra droop in the rear. IMO 2.0 to 2.5 in the rear isnt a huge difference, unless your lugging around a bunch of weight.

I have timbren bumpstops on the rear and wheelers off road in the front. Handles fine to me. I also have no swaybar so i get a little bit more articulation.

 

I got 12in 2.0s w/adjusters on the way!

 

Great information. Thanks for the discussion guys. Still thinking between doing bilsteins for now, and then get a good set of coilovers later. Or just waiting it out to get a good set. Still unsure on which brand I would go, kinda split between king and ads. At first I was leaning toward icon for digressive babbling and more street oriented driving by but so many options and a little confused.

 

Not much love for the OME BP-51s?

 

OME shocks are listed as a 2.5 but its actually a 2.0 piston inside the shocks. I'm sure they still ride great though.

 

Thanks I’ll have to research them a bit more. Was thinking of getting a used pro from the dealer and swapping to OME BP-51 set up for additional lift and thought they would handle winters/salt best.

 

I'd say they look like a middle shock, better than OEM but not quite the same level as King, Fox etc. And they cost more? I would pass

 

Why did you buy 2 sets?

 

Leaning towards the Fox 2.0 Performance Series. Coilovers up front and remote reservoirs in the rear. Anybody have experience running these? Huge improvement over stock setup? Hoping to not spend much more than about $1200. Any other suggestions around that price range? Thanks